Santa Monica, CA and Tel Aviv, Israel  – ZAG Games, the new games division launched in October 2020 by award-winning global independent animation studio ZAG, has announced a partnership with Israel-based start-up Toya to create its first game for the Roblox platform for the ZAG and ON kids & family (Mediawan Group) mega-hit, Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. The announcement was made today by Julian Zag, Executive Vice President, Global Operations, ZAG, who spearheaded the new partnership together with Elinor Schops, the company’s newly installed VP of ZAG Games and Interactive Experiences.

Scheduled for release in April 2021, the new Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir adventure quest game from ZAG and Toya, a Roblox studio, will be the first to bring a TV series to the Roblox metaverse – a shared online experience where fans interact in 3D simulated virtual environments. Fans can expect to meet new characters, enter new environments, and engage with new villains, together with many more surprises.  Zag and Toya are planning to engage with fans during this historic project through an inclusive global game development process that integrates their feedback on ideas and concepts design artwork before the game is officially released to the public.

“Miraculous Ladybug is a relatable heroine who sets up a positive, strong and rocking persona – with the ability to transform, figuratively and literally, the world she is living in. We believe that the Metaverse that Roblox has built is the ideal place to launch a game that celebrates girl empowerment and exploration, and we want to hand over to these girls (and boys of course) the power to advise how to play the game,” commented Schops. “In every sense, we plan for the game to be led by the community in order to make this into a community game—this is where fans will meet, and role play, in the Miraculous universe.

“Our partner Toya, with its female-led agenda, helps to transform the gaming experience for girls around the world, and we couldn’t have hoped for a better match of agendas and ideas,” continued Schops.

“Toya is proud to work with ZAG to develop Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir’s first Roblox gaming experience,” added Anat Shperling, CEO and Co-Founder of Toya. “We are passionate about Roblox being a flexible and inclusive space that allows freedom of expression for adolescents’ inner worlds. We can’t wait to usher the beloved protagonists of the series, Ladybug and Cat Noir, into the Roblox realm, with an inspiring journey that invites global fans into a shared experience in the rich personal space of these admired characters. Core to Toya’s mission is developing inclusive gaming experiences that enable girls and boys to express themselves freely in a safe environment.  We plan to design a journey that encourages players towards greater freedom of self-expression, and teaches them empowering skills for the outside world, such as time management, and decision-making. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this experience to life in partnership with the ZAG gaming team, and with the support of the tremendous global community of Miraculous™ fans and followers.”

Roblox has been applauded by a variety of outlets, including Common Sense Media, who gave it 4 out of 5 stars, praising the website’s variety of games and ability to encourage creativity in children; while the Family Online Safety Institute praised the platform for “allow[ing] kids to play, explore, socialize, create and learn in a self-directed way,” and granted especial praise to Roblox Studio for its ability to encourage children to experience game development.

ZAG’s first “official” global mobile game for Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir was released in April 2018 and ranked as the #1 game in 39 countries with 130 million downloads to date.

The launch of the Roblox game coincides with the debut of ZAG’s second big-budget animated movie, Miraculous World – Shanghai – Lady Dragon.  The first of the two TV movies,  Miraculous World: New York: United Heroez, scored top ratings on its premiere in 2020.  In the U.S., the Friday night movie premiere on Disney Channel on September 25, 2020, ranked #1 for the week across all cable  TV with Girls 6 – 11, and #1 across all TV in its timeslot in the same demographic.

in France, on TF1, the movie was broadcast on October 18th and was the #1 kids show across all channels reaching 39.2% viewing share with kids aged 4 to 10; in Germany, it ranked #1 on Disney Channel during the “Miraculous Day” Weekend Event Premiere[3] on November 7; in the UK the movie was the #1 program on POP for both days that it aired (October 24 and 25); and in Brazil, the movie ranked #1, with the biggest audience among pay-tv kids in 2020.

Fans are also eagerly awaiting the launch of the theatrical feature, Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening (US$100M+ budget), which is planned for release worldwide in fall 2021 or at the beginning of 2022, alongside seasons four and five of the series, which are also currently in production.

The announcement comes on the heels of ZAG’s December 3rd, 2020, announcement that Miraculous is now available on TikTok, expanding the brand’s digital presence, which also includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr—whose 12 official accounts features dedicated accounts for the series’ main characters–boast five million followers in total.  During 2020, Miraculous has grown its digital reach by 178%*.  Miraculous attracts over 15 million subscribers across its nine official YouTube channels, currently available in eight languages.  With a total 22 billion views, fans have collectively viewed more  than 300 million hours of content.

About ZAG

ZAG America, LLC is a global independent entertainment studio specializing in world-class storytelling across TV, film and digital platforms. ZAG’s foundation is rooted in compelling characters, limitless imagination, and masterful storytelling infused with original musical scores. The company is home to world-class entertainment properties under the ZAG HEROEZ label, including Miraculous™: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir,  Power Players, and the upcoming Ghost Force. Founded in France in 2009, visionary director and composer Jeremy Zag further expanded the company to the USA in 2012, establishing a creative headquarters, known as the “ZAG Lab” and the Global Brand Franchise office in Santa Monica, California, with a focus on developing content beyond the screen into lifestyle brands covering a broad array of touchpoints.

About ZAG HEROEZ™ Miraculous™ – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (130 x 22’); Two typical teens with secret identities, Marinette and Adrien, transform into superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir when evil threatens Paris, their beloved City of Lights. Miraculous taps into girls’ affinity for tales of first love, secret identities, teamwork, empowerment, friends, family, compassion, fashion, and is the perfect illustration of the “girl power” phenomenon: strong girls who don’t back down and make their way in the world!  Miraculous is created by ZAG and produced by ZAG and ON kids & family (Mediawan Group) with co-production.